Deputy Sherlock has raised a very important matter. I will come back to him on that issue in writing. The Government acted to ensure the temporary Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme would include a bridging recognition of people's social insurance contributions in this period. We wanted to ensure that workers' time on the scheme was not treated differently where their social insurance contributions were concerned. Though I believe I know the answer to the Deputy's question, it is the first time it has been raised with me…

As the Deputy will know, jobseeker's payments are subject to tax. However, recipients of jobseeker's payments might not pay tax on them due to their income level. Because the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment is a form of income, it is being treated in the same way as jobseeker's payments. As such it is subject to taxation. As is the case with jobseeker's payments, the amount of tax recipients pay at the end of this year could be smaller than what they paid last year for the very simple and unfortunate reason …

It sounds as though the Minister, Regina Doherty, has responded to the Deputy on the issue that was raised by the Irish Cancer Society. It is a policy decision for her to take in respect of the matter but I will follow up on it with her. On the future of the wage subsidy scheme, the kind of issue the Deputy raised is exactly what I am considering at the moment. I take his point that many parts of our economy, because of the health guidance given by the Government, are still not in a position to reopen or to start a…

I do not believe I have yet received the correspondence but I have seen it on social media. I am receiving a gigantic volume of correspondence from every part of our society and economy, making legitimate cases for their support both now and into the future. I am trying to consider all these issues in the round.

Deputy Cairns raised the issue of domestic violence. I am absolutely aware of the great importance of the issue and I know that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, has treated the matter very seriously during this Covid-19 period. He has done all he can to ensure that those at risk or those who become victims of that awful crime are given as much support as possible. Deputy Cairns asked about engagement between representative bodies for victims of domestic violence and the Department of Employme…

I cannot tell the Deputy now because I am not the Minister for Justice and Equality or the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection. It is a matter I am glad we were able to handle during the period of Covid. I will ask the respective Ministers what their plans are for dealing with those as we move through this phase of Covid.

There is no suggestion from me or from the Government that anybody who is on the pandemic payment is in any way living it up. Any comment made by anybody-----

Believe me Deputy, I as much as anybody understand the contribution that people who are on low income make to our society.

It was because of my recognition of that issue, as well as the Taoiseach's, that we brought in the pandemic unemployment payment and the decision was taken to increase it to €350.

Any decision we make on the continuation or structure of that payment in the future will be anchored in our understanding of the contribution those people are making to our society and the way in which the jobs they were doing stopped being available to them because of the impact of this pandemic on our economy. That happened at great speed and in a way nobody could have foreseen. That is the reason we brought in the pandemic unemployment payment and nobody in this Government is looking to use it in a socially divi…

No decision we make-----

-----will be based on anything other than the recognition we have of the contribution-----

-----those who were on low incomes are making to our society and economy.

For the Deputy to suggest anything other than that is wrong.

I will find out the answer to that question for the Deputy and will confirm it to him. The reason these payments are made available at the level they are in the first place is the support and understanding that I and this Government have for the contribution those citizens are making to our society. That is why they were brought in and, as I have said before, we are simply looking to find a way to continue to meet that need as our economy reopens, while recognising that these payments are costing hundreds of millio…

The Deputy made a point about the pandemic unemployment payment being dependent on the level of earnings that recipients were paid previously and making a percentage of those earnings available to them. It is something that, during normal times, if we had not been dealing with a pandemic payment, there might well have been an opportunity to do. We will need to consider for the future whether there is a way of ensuring the level of income support that one gets if one loses one's job better mirrors what one's average…

If the sum of €350 to which the Deputy is referring is the pandemic unemployment payment, that should not be going to an employer. It should be going directly to a citizen in the form of a direct payment. However, the Deputy may be referring to the income support scheme. The legislation that was passed by this House gives the Revenue Commissioners a lot of power to - when, as it is hoped, we get to a better place with Covid - look back and review how the income subsidy scheme was used by companies. To be clear with…

Once I have brought the matter to the Cabinet tomorrow, I will be able to update the House on my proposal on maternity leave and the interaction between that and the wage subsidy scheme. In case I did not make it clear enough earlier in the afternoon, I wish to clarify that when I said the consideration of the future of maternity leave could take time, I meant that in the context that, when the extension of maternity leave was raised with me, it was raised in the spirt of its being a way of dealing with the wage su…

I want to begin by offering my condolences, as always, to the families who have lost loved ones during this pandemic and to again pay tribute to all of those who are on the front line for our country in this time of great challenge. I welcome the opportunity to update the House on the ongoing economic and budgetary situation. The necessary measures introduced to protect public health and to combat the spread of the Covid-19 virus have resulted in a severe contraction in economic activity at home and abroad. Recentl…

I am very much aware of this as an issue and of course the intention of the legislation was to treat all of our citizens and employees equally. It is the case that the description of payroll in the primary legislation and the date have created this issue to which the Deputy has referred. I am examining it with the Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioners to identify whether there is a way to resolve it. I am not at present in a position to be able to inform the House that there is but we are examining it…